benny for your thoughts – part III

buddy holly, patsy cline, james dean, hank williams… dying young did wonders for their careers, bestowing upon them instant icon status. i imagine a 35-year-old mozart leaning against heaven’s gate, offering them high fives upon entrance into the “only-the-good-die-young” club. check it: the final symphony of any great composer tends to be treated with a certain amount of reverence in the classical music world, but when we’re talking about wolfgang amadeus mozart’s last symphonic hurrah, no amount of veneration seems adequate. oh sure, his premature death undoubtedly plays into the legendary position of this music, but let’s not kid ourselves: even if wolfie lived through his 90’s, his symphony #41 would always and forever be, um, how do you say it?… pretty fucking perfect. during the saturday night concert, even coach kalmar publicly confessed the final movement of this final symphony is, orchestrally speaking, the ultimate bomb-diggity (i’m paraphrasing here). and judging by the musicians’ glowing faces during their perfect performance, it was clear the rest of the band felt the same way. they seemed honored to be able to play this music, and oh my… it was certainly an honor to hear them play. what a band!what a concert!